Chilean Mine Rescue Likely To Start This Week

Relatives of the trapped miners celebrate with Chilean police after one of the drills working to rescue the 33 finally reached their shelter.

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Chilean Mine Rescue Likely To Start This Week

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In Chile, rescuers will likely start an operation on October 13 to evacuate 33 miners who have been trapped deep underground for more than two months.

Chile's Mining Minister Laurence Golborne announced that the operation will start after rescuers reinforce with steel about 96 meters of the planned exit shaft.

On October 9, drillers succeeded in completing the 625-meter hole that is aimed at rescuing the men. In the evacuation operation, the miners are to be lifted to the surface one at a time in a narrow capsule.

The men were feared dead after a partial collapse on August 5 blocked the exit of their copper and gold mine in northern Chile. But 17 days later, the men were able to send word that they had all survived in an emergency shelter.

Trapped for some 65 days so far, the men have set a world record for the length of time miners have survived underground after a mining accident.